Professional Bio

Research Bio

First, our antifungal and antibiotic drug discovery work involves high-throughput screening, characterizing in vitro and in vivo activity, determining mechanism of action and structure-activity optimization of new leads. We are currently studying triphenylethylene-bases molecules similar to tamoxifen as anti-cryptococcal agents, PDK1 kinase inhibitors as antifungal agents (in collaboration with Dr. Robert Boeckman from the Department of Chemistry), and a variety of new molecular scaffolds. High-throughput screening projects involve (in collaboration with Dr. Paul Dunman from the Department of Microbiology) the ESKAPE (Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas and Enterobacter) bacterial pathogens and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Second, we use large-scale genetic approaches to study the pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions of Candida albicans, the most common human fungal pathogen. These studies are carried out in collaboration with Dr. Anuj Kumar (University of Michigan), and Dr. Melanie Wellington (University of Rochester, Pediatric Infectious Diseases). We are particularly interested in how genetic networks regulate morphogenesis and interactions with macrophages.